Calvin Sports Report

May 23, 2002

Joel Klooster Earns National Runner-Up Honors in 10,000 Meters/Dan Hoekstra 6th

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA - Heading into the men's 10,000 meter final Thursday night at the NCAA III Track and Field Championships at Macalester College, it appeared that the race would be a two-man duel between Haverford senior J.B. Haglund and Calvin senior Joel Klooster as the two were the only individuals to run the 10,000 meters under 30 minutes this spring.

The contest proved true to form as Haglund and Klooster combined for an epic race that saw Haglund pull away for a two-second victory with a surge in the final 200 meters of the nearly 22-lap race. The NCAA III cross country champion this fall, Haglund ran on Klooster's heels for most of the final 3,000 meters but with one lap to go, Haglund moved into a slight lead. A native of Chatham, Ontario, Klooster matched Haglund's surge for the initial 200 meters but in the final 200, Haglund pulled away by a small margin to win with a time of 30:43.41 with Klooster taking second in 30:45.90.

The second place finish by Klooster marked his second All-America performance in track and field and matched the best national finish by a Calvin distance runner in the 10,000 meters, equaling the second place performance that fellow Canadian Ray VanArragon of Guelph, Ontario, achieved at the 1995 national meet.

Klooster was one of two Calvin All-Americans in the men's 10,000 meters Thursday night as senior Dan Hoekstra of Kalamazoo Christian High School took sixth with a time of 31:09.06, recording the third All-America berth of his collegiate track and field career.

"This was a classic race between two great runners," said Calvin distance coach Brian Diemer. "The initial pace was slow and for awhile, it was nothing but a mind game as both guys were trying to figure out the best tactics to win the race. Haglund ran a sub-60 interval in that last lap and was simply able to find another gear. He ran a great race but so did Joel.'

"Dan Hoekstra also ran a very strong race," added Diemer. "When the lead pack broke away, he could have folded the tents but he kept his mental focus and closed his 10,000 meter career as an All-American. You can't ask for too much more than that."

Fellow Calvin distance coach Al Hoekstra also credited the performance of J.B. Haglund. "Haglund could have been the top seed for the steeplechase Friday night but he dropped out of the race to compete against Joel Klooster head-to-head in the 10,000," said Hoekstra. "For that I have to take my hat off to him but because he wanted to race against the best and he rose to the challenge."

The national runner-up finish by Klooster came on the heels of a red-shirt track and field campaign last spring that saw his running career nearly ended by a serious knee injury. With the red-shirt year, Klooster retains a fifth-year of eligibility for track and field next spring and plans to return for his final year of track and field next spring.

The All-America performances by Klooster and Hoekstra enabled the Knights to move into second place in the overall standings with 11 points, six points behind Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The All-America efforts completed a strong first day of competition by both Calvin teams as several athletes qualified for championship finals on Saturday while junior Annie VanderLaan of Grand Rapids Christian High School put herself into potential position for a national title in the heptathlon. Heading into the final three events Friday afternoon, VanderLaan has a first place total of 3,037 points, 35 points ahead of second place Katie Myer of Loras College. VanderLaan was able to build her first place total with strong efforts in the 100 meter hurdles (14.85), high jump (5-3 ¾), shot put (34-0 ¾), and 200 meters (25.24). VanderLaan has the long jump, javelin and 800 meter events left on Friday. A year ago, she placed fifth in the heptathlon competition.

VanderLaan also helped Calvin's 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 meter relay teams advanced to championship finals on Saturday. VanderLaan was joined by seniors Rachel Veltkamp (Grand Rapids Christian) and Mindy Worst (Grand Rapids Christian) freshman Sue Abbring (Highland, IN) in the 4 x 100 as the group clocked in with a time of 47.39 that was good for a fourth seed for the championship finals. The 4 x 400 meter team of Worst, VanderLaan, Abbring and freshman Laura Hamilton

(Downers Grove, IL) also gained the fourth seed for Saturday's finals with a time of 3:50.56 in Thursday's preliminaries.

Abbring also came up with a season-best time of 25.12 in the 200 meter prelims but did not advance to the finals. Hamilton had a season-best time of 1:03.19 in the 400 meter hurdles but also did not advance to the finals.

In the women's 10,000 meters, sophomore Jessie Lair (Southfield Christian) took 15th (37:03.51), sophomore Sarah Hastings (Traverse City) took 19th (37:19.37) and senior Lindsay Carrier (Tri-unity Christian) was 22nd (37:28.28).

In the men's competition, senior Keith VanGoor (Midland Park, NJ) pulled a mild surprise in the 200 meters. Seeded 12th in the event, VanGoor advanced to Saturday's nine-man finals with a career-best time of 21.57 in Thursday's prelims. Senior Jason DeVries of Hudsonville Unity Christian High School also competed in the pole vault, finishing 13th with a height of 15-2. Alma sophomore Mike Palmer achieved All-America distinction in the pole vault, finishing second with a height of 16-0 ¾. Albion senior Jared Owens also picked up All-America honors in the long jump, finishing sixth with a mark of 22-9.

Another highlight for the Calvin track and field program came at the pre-national banquet Wednesday night at the meet headquarters in downtown St. Paul as head coach Dr. Jong-Il Kim was named NCAA III National Women's Track and

Field Coach of the Year by the United States Track and Field Coaches Association

(USTAF). He was also named the Men's and Women's Great Lakes Regional Track and Field Coach of the Year by the USTAF.

"I did not expect these awards and I was very surprised to receive them," said Kim. "I am very grateful for the recognition but I must give a great amount of credit to the rest of my coaching staff and all of my athletes. They have all been very wonderful to me at Calvin and they share in all of these awards."

The second of competition at the NCAA III Track and Field Championships is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.. Scheduled to compete in morning field event finals for the Calvin women are senior Rachel Veltkamp in the pole vault and sophomore Katie Corner of Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School in the discus. Veltkamp is seeded second in the pole vault while Corner is seeded third in the discus.

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